The Obama administration proposed easing controls on the export of technology items that may be used for military purposes to 37 allies, including Canada, Japan, Germany and France.

In a rule set to be published tomorrow, the Commerce Department asked U.S. industry groups to review its plans to ease limits on sales for a number of products. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke proposed eliminating export controls for sales to close allies a year ago, and has pushed to get the rules released.

“Conceptually this is a very important move forward,” said Catherine Robinson, the director for high-technology trade policy at the National Association of Manufacturers…